Mirror Force
by Arachnos
Summary: While being chased by the Empire after the battle of Hoth Han Solo, Leia, Chewie, 3P0 and R2 are thrown into another galaxy. Unfortunately it is not a one time occurrence and the Empire begins its conquest of the Star Trek galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

**Mirror Force**

Sparks flew from the helm as a blast of laser energy slammed into the Millennium Falcon sending the whole ship rocking. Han Solo swore under his breath and tried to regain control. He had just gotten Leia off of Hoth and he was not about to lose control now.

"Damn Ties'" he muttered as another shot skipped along the hull of the Falcon. "Go to hell you bastards" he yelled over the comm.

"Han, please clam down or we are going to end up as a smear on one of these asteroids" Leia chided.

Han bit back a crude remark and began to focus again. With expert care he forced the Falcon into a dive and slid past a large asteroid missing the surface by less then five meters. The Tie pilot behind him was not so lucky and Han smiled as the sensors registered an impact as the small fighter slammed into the asteroid.

Han was getting anxious, "Chewie is the hyperdrive back online yet?"

"Marrroww" came the response over the comm.

"Come on you bucket of bolts, WORK!" Han grumbled.

As if to spite Hans outburst the Falcon shook as the main drive tried to kick back in before fizzling out again. Leia silently chuckled. Han and his ship had a truly unique relationship.

Suddenly the comm crackled to life again, "This is Captain Norath of the Vindicator class "Fury" stand down at once."

Glancing at the sensors Han noticed that the fighters had managed to herd the Falcon directly into the Fury's line of fire. "Damn"

Pulling up in a hard climb Han tried to place a large asteroid between the enemy cruiser and his ship.

"Norath to enemy ship, I would prefer to take you alive as Lord Vader has ordered but I will fire, unless you surrender now."

"Go to hell grey coat!" Han responded over the comm.

With that the Vindicator opened fire with her main guns blasting the asteroid to shreds. The Falcon rocked from the explosion and it was all Han could do to keep control. Suddenly the energy sensors spiked and alarms began blaring.

"Captain Solo, Captain Solo, the computer is saying that the lasers from the Fury have had some kind of reaction with something in the asteroid." came the frantic cry of C-3P0

Han did not have time to ask for clarification as a bright white light engulfed the ship.

As the strange light faded Captain Norath lowered the hand he had used to cover his face. His face went ashen as he noticed that the asteroid field outside the view ports had disappeared.

"Science station report now, where is the Falcon. Navigation what is our current location." Norath barked out orders and the Imperial crew went to work as they all recovered from the massive release of energy.

"Sir our lasers ignited something in the asteroid, but I am not entirely sure what it was. However there appears to be a massive rip in space off the port side." came the report from his chief science officer.

"Navigation report!"

The navigation officer turned to his captain, "Sir we are not in the same location, in fact the computer can not pinpoint our location." A short beep came through the officers console and after reading it he turned back to Norath. "Sir our hyperdrive is also offline."

"Dammit, is the Falcon still out there?"

"Yes sir and it is pulling away at high speed."

Norath did not hesitate, he had his orders. "Pursuit course, order the remaining Ties to launch and engage the Falcon."

As the Fury's main drive kicked in Captain Norath turned to the science station. "I want a full report on that rip by the time the Falcon is apprehended."

With that final order Norath moved off and began barking orders at the rest of the command crew as the Vindicator class tore after the Falcon.

It was 0230 hours and the bridge was silent save for the occasional beep from a console as commands where input. With the rest of the command staff sleeping Lt. Commander Data sat in the command chair for the night shift. He had agreed to cover for Commander Riker who had an old friend aboard for a short visit.

While most of the staff dreaded the night shift Data preferred this time of the day, it allowed him to contemplate many of the daily problems which came up so often without interruption. At the moment he was trying to find the meaning behind a joke Geordi had told him about a priest, a police officer and a naked bartender.

Turning to Data the helm officer started, "What if it means...no no that's stupid." Data was not the only one stumped by the joke and the Bolian pilot was attempting to help the commander understand human humour.

"I will never understand terran humour." The Bolian grumbled as he turned back to his console.

Data nodded, "Yes I fail to grasp it as well."

Despite the fact that it was an emotion, Data did have a basic grasp of frustration and if someone asked what he had been feeling at that moment he would respond as such.

All of a sudden the tactical station began blaring. Shattering the early morning quite the alarm seemed louder then normal.

"Report" Data ordered as to activated the command chairs computer link.

Hands flying across the panel Ensign Yoshi the night tactical officer responded, "Sir we are detecting multiple energy spikes one point five light years of the port bow. I would say it is weapons fire but I do not recognize the signature."

Data read the display that was being fed to the captains chair. The ensign was correct, the weapons signature and type where unknown but they where close to Klingon disruptor fire.

"Sir I am receiving a distress signal...the frequency is strange but I think the computer can put it through."

Data nodded and the bridge speakers crackled to life.

"I repeat this is Princess Leia Organa aboard the Millennium Falcon, we are under heavy fire from an Imperial ship and we require assistance. The captain is unconscious and our hyperdrive is off line please any loyal ships respond...please"

"Red alert all hands red alert, Captain Picard to the bridge." Data quickly went through the motions that came with a call such as this.

"Sir I am detecting a large ship roughly six hundred meters in length as well as a dozen smaller craft in addition to the ship the call is coming from."

Data stood and took his usual place at the navigation station. "I am setting an intercept course."

Less then a minute later the captain strode onto the bridge with Riker and Worf in tow. "Report Lieutenant Commander."

"Sir we have received a distress call from one Princess Leia Organa requesting assistance, the ship she is on appears to be a small transport and they are coming under attack from a large ship slightly smaller then the Enterprise." Data paused for a moment as more information came through.

"Sir the attacker has immense firepower for a ship its size, we are picking up what appear to be over fifty weapons of varying configurations. No torpedo launcher however. The dozen smaller ships appear to be one man attack craft."

"Very well, have sickbay stand by to receive wounded." Picard began to throw out orders and the crew jumped to with a powerful energy as he had come to expect of them. "Worf charge all phasers and arm torpedoes."

A second later Worf responded, "Ready sir."

"Sir sickbay reports ready and Geordi says engineering is ready." Riker reported to the captain, "never a peaceful nights sleep is there."

Jean-Luc smiled slightly at his second in command. "You never expected there to be when you enlisted did you?"

"Well I figured every once in a while, you know."

Their attempt at light humour was meant to help keep the bridge calm as they approached a deadly encounter. Most of the crew had grown accustomed to the way Picard ran his bridge and they took comfort in having a strong captain who still retained a sense of humour.

"Captain I am bring us out of warp, the ships are dead ahead." Data reported.

"On screen"

Picard scowled as the large triangular craft appeared on screen. The smaller craft was roughly circular in shape with a pronged front, what appeared to be its command centre positioned off the the side of the craft and a large old style dish mounted on the top. The smaller fighter craft where a globe shape with a pair of vertical wings mounted on either side.

Worf started and cautioned, "Sir the attacking ship has turned toward us and their weapons are fully charged."

"Open a channel," the captain responded, "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. Be aware that you are in Federation territory and any act of aggression will not be tolerated."

The response was swift as the ship fired a volley of turbolaser shots at the Enterprise. The majority of the shots missed but a few impacted the forward shields.

"Damage report."

Riker responded first, "Minimal sir only three of their shots hit us."

"Captain from my readings I would say that each individual cannon has the same power as a light Klingon disruptor. However they mount twenty five individual cannons as well as twenty more in what appear to be quad-fire turrets."

"Very well, return fire."

Energy stabbed out through space as Worf fired the main phasers at the enemy craft. The shots impacted the enemy hull appearing to bypass whatever shields they may have had. The following shots impacted across the hull of the Vindicator with several landing just short of impacting the bridge.

"Sir the enemy craft is coming about and the enemy fighters are rejoining the larger ship. They are moving away at high speed. From what I can tell they took sever damage but not entirely from us." Worf gave his report as the strange alien craft pulled away at increasing speed.

"Very well, Number One prepare a rescue party and go over to that transport," as Riker nodded and moved to the turbolift motioning Worf to follow Picard continued. "Data will that ship hold up to a tractor beam?"

Data consulted his screens for a moment. "No sir, it has taken severe damage and beyond that it appears to be at least thirty years old with dozens of jury-rigged repair jobs holding her together."

Picard was silent has he listened to the report. Knowing how the ships captain would probably be opposed to leaving his ship behind, if he survived, Picard began to contemplate calling in a mobile repair craft to help. However Data interrupted his thoughts.

"Sir I believe that we could load the ship into our main shuttle bay. It would be a tight fit but we could manage."

Picard contemplated this for only a second. "Very well make the preparations and once Riker and his team have returned bring it in."

Nodding Data began to transfer the appropriate orders to the right people across the ship.

Riker, Worf and Beverly materialized into the small cramped space just behind the Millennium Falcon's bridge. Riker cautiously touched the door between them and the cockpit, it was cool so their was no fire beyond.

"Worf give me a hand."

Working together they managed to slide the door open, only to find themselves staring down the barrel of a small pistol. The short women had brown hair that was very dishevelled and she had small scraps across her face but she appeared to be in decent shape, the same could not be said of the man she stood protectively in front of.

"Who are you and how did you come aboard?" demanded the women, "we did not dock with another ship so explain NOW!"

Riker rose both his hands so she could see he was not armed. "I am Commander Riker of the Federation starship Enterprise, we picked up your distress and are here to help."

The women hesitated but remained firm, pointing her weapon at the intruders. "If you had enough firepower to drive off that Vindicator then you must be from the Hapan or Mandelorian governments."

"As I said we are from the United Federation of Planets, but I can assure you we are here to help, you are Princess Leia Organa I assume." Riker was keeping calm and saw the she had was starting to come around but she had been through a lot and was very distrustful.

To everyone's surprise the man she was protecting reached up a hand and clasped her forearm.

"Leia," he coughed, "let them help."

Leia immediately dropped her arm and allowed Riker to gently take her pistol. Stepping aside Riker allowed Beverly to move into the cockpit and scan the captain. As Leia and Beverly briefly met each others gaze Beverly smiled and Leia slouched down into the chair closest to her as she completely relaxed.

A quick scan revealed that the captain, Han Solo according to Leia, had sever and life threatening injuries. With six cracked ribs, a punctured lung and multiple deep lacerations Beverly had to get him to sick bay.

"Will, if I don't get him back to the Enterprise now he will die." Beverly reported.

Leia gasped but before anyone could make another move a large howl erupted from behind Worf. Turning Worf regarded the massive creature which charged him. As they collided Worf grasped Chewbacca's hands and they began to push back and forth in a show of strength that caused everyone to pause.

"Chewie stop, they are here to help I promise." Leia screeched.

Chewie looked past his Klingon adversary and noticed that Riker had moved to protect Leia and the women bent over his good friend had also placed herself protectively over her charge. Looking back into Worf's eyes Chewie nodded, Worf understood and they both released the other.

"Okay then," Riker started, "Lets get these three back to the Enterprise."

As he reached for his comm badge Leia stopped him. "Wait we can't leave without 3P0 and R2."

"You have more crew, where are they?" Riker quickly asked.

"They should be back in the hold or crew quarters."

Riker nodded. "Worf go with...Chewie...and find these two."

"Yes Commander." Turning Worf motioned the Wookiee down the corridor. Glancing at Leia Chewbacca lead Worf way after she nodded her consent.

"WILL, we need to go now!" Beverley suddenly yelled.

Nodding Riker hit his comm badge and a second later the four still in the cockpit dematerialized.

Leia paced back and forth outside of the operation room as she waited for news about Han. She was still queezy from the transport but she pushed the feeling down. A nurse had checked her out and quickly released her saying she was fine and after being treated with a strange device that healed her wounds in seconds she believed that Han would be to.

A rough voice suddenly came from behind her. "Leia are you okay?"

Turning Leia noticed Chewie, 3P0 and Riker. The voice had obviously not come from Riker or 3P0 so she slowly turned to Chewie.

"Umm, Chewbacca, did you just ask me if I was okay?"

A massive grin spread across the Wookiee's face and he nodded. "Yes I did"

With out even wanting to know how or why Leia jumped into the massive Wookiee's arms. "I am fine, thank you my friend."

"It is truly fascinating Princess," 3P0 began, "these good people have a universal translator that translates in real time...I guess I am obsolete."

Leia wiped away her tears and hugged the golden droid. "You will never be obsolete 3P0, I am glad to see you are okay, but where is R2?"

"He took some sever damage but the engineer, Geordi I believe his name is, said that he would take a look at him, I hope he will be okay." Despite the fact that 3P0's face plate never changed Leia could tell he was worried about his long time companion.

"It is nice that you can understand me Princess," Chewie began, "but how is Han doing?"

Leia glanced back at the doors to the surgery. "They say he will recover and be up on his feet in a day or so, their technology is amazing, it would take a week or more in a bacta tank to fix that amount of damage."

Riker cleared his throat and Leia turned to him. "Captain Picard would like to speak with the three of you, I assure you that Captain Solo is in excellent hands and pacing here will only increase your anxiety."

Chewie and 3P0 both nodded their agreement and Leia sighed. "Alright Commander Riker lets go."

"Please call me Will your Highness."

"Only if you call me Leia." smiling she realized that this man reminded her of Han.

Riker returned the smile. "Of course."

A few minutes later the group entered the briefing room. Of the five people already in the room Leia only recognized Worf, a Klingon according to Riker, he was just as imposing as a Wookiee only less hairy.

"Ah Princess Leia, my name is Jean-Luc Picard welcome aboard." The slightly balding man standing before her offered his hand and smiled. Shaking the mans hand Leia thought he looked a lot like General Dodonna.

"This is my chief engineer Geordi LeForge, Lt. Commander Data, Consular Deanna Troi and I believe you briefly met Lieutenant Commander Worf." Picard made the introductions and Leia shook everyone's hand with a smile. These people had saved them and bloodied the nose of an Imperial captain, she owed them a lot.

"Thank you Captain, allow me to introduce Chewbacca and C-3P0. The only two missing are Han and R2." A worried look crossed her face and Picard quickly offered her a reassuring smile. "Thank you for the rescue."

"Our pleasure," the captain replied and motioned for everyone to take a seat, "now can you explain why that ship was firing on you?"

Leia took a deep breath. "Of course, that ship belongs to the Empire with whom we are at war. They call us Rebels which I guess is a fair view. The Empire rose from our old Galactic Republic when a single man named Palpatine secretly began a war between the Republic and a group known as the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

An hour passed as Leia relayed the story to her rescuers. Every once in a while one of them would ask a question but for the most part they allowed her to speak uninterrupted.

"Two years ago Emperor Palpatine used his Death Star to destroy my home planet of Alderaan but we managed to destroy it, just barley, but we beat it." Leia paused took a drink of water and finished her story.

"So for the past two years we have been on the run. Yesterday an Imperial fleet found us on Hoth and Han managed to get me out but while we where trying to escape the Fury found us and their weapons fire reacted with something in an asteroid. Next thing we knew the cover of the asteroids was gone. We took a near direct hit from the Fury and they where about to catch us when you arrived."

"Hmm, well your Highness I think we have a problem." Picard began.

"How so?" Leia asked as she cocked her head to the side.

Picard replied with a sympathetic look "The galaxy spanning empire you describe does not exist, at least not in our galaxy."

Leia stopped short, Chewie grumbled and shifted with agitation and 3P0 simply let out and "Oh my."

Data stood and moved to the display at the end of the room. "I have managed to recover some data from the Millennium Falcon and as you can see our galaxy and yours are very different." The display showed both galaxies side by side and then as an overlay.

Data was correct, the two where different sizes and had a different number of arms.

"So...we are not even in our galaxy, I had hoped we had been thrown into the uncharted sectors but this." Tears formed in Leia's eyes.

"It stands to reason that the circumstances of your extra galactic travel could be replicated." Data replied.

"Very well, for now Princess I would hope that you would consider yourselves our guests." said Picard.

Leia brightened up at the prospect of returning home. "Thank you Captain we appreciate the invitation."

The comm suddenly activated and Leia heard the voice the ships doctor. "Jean-Luc I thought that you and our guests would like to know that Captain Solo has stabilized and is awake."

"Thank you Doctor. Deanna why don't you escort our guests to sickbay." Suggested the Captain.

Nodding Deanna ushered Leia, Chewie and 3P0 out of the briefing room. Once the door had slide shut behind them Picard turned to Data.

"Commander what is your threat analysis of this Galactic Empire?"

"Extreme sir. From the records I have reviewed so far they have control of roughly three quarters of their galaxy." Data flicked the display back on. "This is the Imperial Star Destroyer, at one point five kilometres on length it is the mainline battleship for the Empire and these ships alone number in the thousands. If the Enterprise took a direct hit even with our shields at maximum we would not survive."

Riker whistled. "That is one big ship, if we encounter one what defence would we have?"

"Our sublight speed and manoeuvrability are far superior, so we would be able to avoid the brunt of their fire." Data switched to another ship. "Needless to say they have a counter for this as well. The TIE fighter is a mass produced one man attack fighter and each Star Destroyer carries roughly seventy-five of these craft in addition to numerous support craft."

"Very well mister Data and what about the ship that attacked us earlier?" Picard asked.

Data switched to another ship. "The Vindicator class heavy cruiser is six hundred meters in length and carries a large armament of what they call turbolasers. Despite the number of weapons they are located protecting different areas of the ship and cannot all fire in one direction. I believe that if the Fury had been at full strength the battle would have been fierce and could have gone either way. Each Vindicator is a match for a Sovereign class one to one."

"So if the Fury manages to find a way back to their galaxy do you think the Empire would invade?" asked Riker.

Picard responded before Data. "I have no doubt the Emperor would have no qualms about invading another galaxy and bringing it to heel."

"I concur Captain." Data chimed in.

Picard turned his chair and stared out at the stars. "Very well, assemble a team use whoever you need, I want as much of this data reviewed by 0900 tomorrow morning. We will send a copy of this information to Starfleet for their review in addition to our reports."

Turning back Picard looked into the eyes of his command staff. "This is your number one priority, everyone will need to pull double shifts. Now get to work."

After the other three had left the room Picard stood staring out at the blackness of space and he suddenly felt very small.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"This is not good Jean-Luc," stated Admiral Janeway over the comm channel, "we are still trying to rebuild our fleet thanks to the Dominion and now we discover that there may be a way for an tyrannical dictator from another galaxy to invade ours."

Jean-Luc simply nodded. "It is a serious problem to be sure, but we are still not entirely sure if the accident can be replicated."

Janeway placed her head in her hands. "Jean-Luc I should warn you that there are a small number of politicians and Admirals who want us to hand your guests over to this Captain Norath and try to avoid such an invasion."

Picard's face seemed to turn to stone and Janeway had to control herself from shuttering. Few had ever seen the famous Jean-Luc Picard, diplomat and peace maker, truly enraged but Janeway had heard stories.

However, true to his reputation Picard stayed in control. "Admiral I trust that this minority are not being given any consideration."

"Not at the moment, but depending on how things go..." Janeway trailed off.

The uncomfortable silence was suddenly shattered when the Enterprise went into red alert and Riker's voice came over the ship wide. "All hands to battle stations, Captain Picard report to the bridge."

"I have to go Admiral, I will contact you when this is over."

As Jean-Luc strode onto the bridge he glanced over at the view screen and noticed the Fury sitting directly in front of the Enterprise.

"I see our friends have returned." Picard commented as he sat in his chair.

Data nodded from his chair. "Yes Captain."

"Number One how did they get so close without our sensors detecting them?"

"I believe that they used their "hyperdrive", from our understanding of it the drive seems to drop the ship into subspace allowing it to travel massive distances in a very short time." Riker replied.

Deanna cleared her throat and looked at the captain. "Jean-Luc they are very angry, we need to proceed carefully as the slightest move could provoke them."

Picard nodded. "Mister Worf what is their current condition?"

Worf looked down at his console and taped a few keys. "Hmm, their shields are operational but appear to only be at half strength, their port side guns appear to be offline and internal scans show only fifteen operational TIE fighters."

"Captain, can I be of any assistance?" Turning to the turbolift Picard noticed the large Wookiee named Chewbacca stepping onto the bridge.

"Ah yes, can you suggest any course of action?"

"Attack first." Grumbled the Wookiee, judging by Worf's expression he agreed with Chewbacca.

Picard shook his head. "I understand your feelings but we have to see if this can be resolved peacefully."

Chewbacca sighed. "Then I would suggest if it comes to combat target their launch bay and prevent them from launching their fighters."

Picard nodded and turned back to the view screen. "Open a channel to the Fury."

The screen flickered to life and before Picard could say a word Norath spoke. "This is Captain Norath of the Imperial ship Fury. I order you to stand down and surrender the crew you rescued from the Millennium Falcon."

"That is a bold demand Captain. Especially since you are in our space and commanding a heavily damaged ship." Came the sharp reply.

"This is your only warning, surrender or I will destroy you." Norath warned.

Picard stared at his opponent. "A very arrogant man." He thought to himself. "I am afraid that is not going to happen Captain Norath."

Without further word Norath cut the channel and a volley of turbolaser fire impacted the shields. "It appears their targeting sensors are operational again." Riker commented as he steadied himself.

"Return fire and move us to their ventral port side, target their launch bays." Ordered Captain Picard.

With a grace that can only be seen in space the Enterprise dove down under the Fury, phasers cutting through the darkness they struck home impacting the shields around the launch bays of the damaged Vindicator. A volley of quantum torpedoes followed, their blue fire shattering the last protection offered by the flimsy shields and destroying the TIE bay.

With extreme precision Worf continued firing, cutting large swaths from the Fury's hull with the Enterprise phasers. Explosions rippled across the Imperial ships hull as secondary systems detonated from the onslaught.

"Captain!" Norath turned as his second in command stumbled toward him. "They have destroyed our fighter bays and secondary explosions have spread throughout the ship. Hyperdrive, shields and seventy percent of our weapons have been destroyed."

"Communications?"

"Still online but not for much longer."

Norath swore under his breath. After their first encounter with the Enterprise they had returned to the rip and discovered that they could return to their galaxy. Upon arrival they found over a dozen Star Destroyers guarding the rift on the other side. Needless to say Lord Vader was very displeased.

Because of the strange circumstances Norath and his crew where given the chance to redeem themselves by going back through the rift and attempting to apprehend the Princess and her cohorts. If however they failed Lord Vader ensured that Leia would be taken back by sending two Star Destroyers along with the Fury.

"Damn, very well call in the Star Destroyers and order the crew to abandon ship."

As the Enterprise continued to circle the Fury two massive shadows eclipsed the stars and the full might of a pair of Star Destroyers was brought to bare against the starfleet ship. Brilliant green bolts rained down tearing through the Enterprise shields, punching massive holes in the hull.

Sparks flew from consoles as Captain Picard struggled to his feet. The first shots from the Star Destroyers had impacted behind the bridge and resulted in a large explosion as the consoles at the rear of the bridge blew out. Luckily the captains chair had saved Picard's life despite the fact that it knocked him to the ground.

Through gritted teeth he hissed. "Report now!"

"Two Imperial class Star Destroyers just appeared, we have taken sever damage, weapons are off line and shields are down." Riker replied.

Deanna struggled to regain her composer. "Captain, fatality reports from all over the ship...sir Beverly has been injured and they don't think she will survive."

Swearing Picard turned on Data. "Do we have warp?"

"Yes sir."

"Get us out of here, best possible speed."

With that order the Enterprise pulled about and jumped into high warp. As her speed increased the ship began to tear itself apart, hull plates flying off into space.

"Captain," came a call over the intercom, "this is Geordi in engineering the core is breaching, we need to drop out of warp and get off this ship now!"

Picard froze. Not again, he thought, not again. Memories of the Enterprise-D flash through his mind, of that fateful day when the Duras sisters ambushed them and force the Enterprise down onto Veridian III.

"Captain...are you alright?" Deanna asked him as she touched his arm.

Picard started and activated the ship wide. "This is the Captain, all hands abandon ship, I repeat all hands abandon ship."

The Enterprise dropped out of warp and a powerful explosion sent the ship spinning on its axis. With shreds of the ship spinning off in all directions the crew began its evacuation. While most of the ships escape pods managed to clear the flying debris more then few of the pods collided with chunks of the Enterprise.

As Picard stumbled into the shuttle bay with the rest of the command staff he noticed the weapons fire from the Star Destroyers had blown out the side of the bay where they had moved the small craft to make room for the Falcon, which was now the only ship still available.

"Lets pray that it can still fly." Riker groaned as he helped to support Beverly. During the mad dash for the shuttles they had run into a few survivors from sickbay including Leia, Han, Beverly and 3P0.

As they rushed to board the craft another explosion caught Worf off guard throwing him across the shuttle bay. Without hesitation Chewbacca loped over lifted the massive Klingon over his shoulder and boarded the Falcon.

Pulling several controls Leia managed to get the Falcon's engines powered up. Without hesitation she pulled the ship into reverse and managed to avoid being hit by the spinning ship. Turning the Falcon around she punched the engines to high speed and pulled away from the burning wreck of the Enterprise-E.

Picard watched on one of the cockpit screens as his beloved Enterprise continued to spin away explosions crisscrossing her hull. With a lurch the hull burst outward and the core exploded sending a massive shock wave into space. The Falcon did Han proud at that moment as the hyperdrive reinitialized.

"What!" Leia started as the hyperdrive panel light up. "Everyone hang on"

With that Leia took the Falcon into hyperspace. The ship emerging a minute later safely out of the blast range.

"Well, what now?" Riker asked.

Picard looked his second right in the eye. "We need to prepare for yet another war. The Empire has obviously found a way to make it to our galaxy whenever they wish." Looking at Leia he continued. "Of course this means that we will need to find a way to contact the Rebels and coordinate a counter strike."

Leia nodded. "Of course Captain, I know that they would be happy to have you fight at their side."

Deanna suddenly appeared in the doorway with a worried look on her face. "Captain you have to come quickly, Beverly is dieing."

Back in the crew area Han was bent over a piece of medical equipment swearing. "Come on you piece of mechanical junk." Data was standing alongside Han and appeared to be working on getting the strange equipment to work.

"Jean-Luc...please." Beverly wheezed.

"I am here Beverly, it's alright just stay still." Picard said soothingly while taking her hand.

"Jean-Luc, please don't blame yourself...I don't want that."

Picard nodded as tears began to form in his eyes.

"Please, look after Wesley for me and tell him I...I..." Beverly's hand went limp and she breathed her final breath, her eyes still pleading with Jean-Luc to watch her only son.

Deanna burst into tears and crumpled to the ground, her best friends death tearing her heart to pieces. Riker stooped down and wrapped his arms around her silently whispering something into her ear. Picard placed his departed friends hand on her chest and got to his feet. Turning he noticed Worf laying on a cot on the other side of the room watching the exchange.

"Mr. Worf how are you feeling?" Picard struggled to ask.

Trying to sit up Worf growled and slumped back down. "I have been better sir..."

Picard nodded and turned to Leia. The young Princess was holding onto Han crying as she buried her face into his chest. "Captain Solo I am glad to see you on your feet." Picard commented.

Nodding Han replied. "Thanks to your doctor yes...I am sorry the medical supplies on my ship are so poor."

"No it is alright, please don't think that." Picard stated shaking his head. "Now Mr. Data if you could please go to the cockpit and see about getting a distress signal to Starfleet."

"At once sir." The android replied.

3P0 moved to Data's side. "Allow me to assist sir, I believe I can be of use."

"Very well" Data replied and the two moved to the cockpit.

"Captain are you alright?" Riker asked as he continued to hold Deanna.

"Yes number one, I'm fine."

Riker had known his captain long enough to know that he was lying. Beverly's husband and Picard had been best friends and Jean-Luc had been the one to deliver the body of her husband back to Beverly after he died while on a mission. After she transferred to the Enterprise Beverly and Picard had become very close and Riker knew that Picard considered her son Wesley to be as close to his own as could be.

Picard looked back at Solo and Leia. "Once we get back to Earth I will be sure to accompany you to the Federation council and we can begin making plans to get you home."

"Data to Captain, I have received a message from the U.S.S. Nixon, they have already recovered three of our escape pods." Data reported over the comm. "Sir you should know Geordi is alive and well, he also managed to save the small cylindrical droid R2-D2. They will be here in an hour."

"Thank you Mr. Data." Picard answered. "I just want this day to be over with."

Three weeks had past since the U.S.S. Enterprise-E had been destroyed and now Picard and his crew, along with their guests from another galaxy and nearly a hundred others stood paying their respects to Beverly Crusher. The day had been perfect with a clear spring sky and a slight breeze drifting through the graveyard where they now stood.

Jean-Luc stood silently watching as the priest conducted the burial ceremony. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Wesley shaking as he watched his mothers casket slowly lowering into the ground. Placing his hand on his charges shoulder Picard gave Wesley a small, comforting smile. The smile that returned was incredibly cold.

As the burial ended and the crowd began to disperse Picard heard the distinctive hum of a starfleet shuttle landing by the rest of the transports. Glancing in the direction of the landing zone Jean-Luc noticed Admiral Janeway exiting the craft looking worried.

Looking through the dissipating crowd Janeway finally spotted Picard standing with his crew. Rushing to his side Picard could tell the Admiral was panicked. "Jean-Luc, we need to get you to command immediately, the Empire has begun a full scale invasion."

Picard grimaced as he heard the news. "Will you and the others go to my place and I will met you all there later."

"Alright Jean-Luc, see you later." Riker turned to the group and began following them to their transport.

Twenty minutes later Picard was entering the large situation room at starfleet command. Looking around the circular space he noticed at least one hundred others ranging in rank from captain to admiral as well as a number of civilian consultants. The Klingon and Romulan ambassadors where also present, although they stayed well clear of each other occasionally sending dirty looks in the others direction.

A chime indicated that everyone had arrived and was to take their seat. Picard settled himself in a chair next to Janeway as Admiral Paris took the podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen as you are all aware nearly a month ago Captain Picard and his crew encountered a number of individuals who have come from another galaxy. While responding to the distress call of Princess Leia Organa," the admiral motioned in the direction of Leia and Han who had been asked to attend the meeting, "the Enterprise was attacked and subsequently destroyed by two ships from this Galaxy."

A low murmur rippled through the crowd. Everyone had read the report by to hear it with their own ears was another matter entirely.

The admiral raised his hand and the room quieted down. "For those of you who have not seen the recovered footage of the attack we will show it now." Over the next few minutes the group watched the end of the short skirmish between the Enterprise and the Fury. Finally the two Star Destroyers entered the fray and the entire room gasped as the shear destructive power of their enemy was revealed.

"These are Imperial class Star Destroyers and they number in the thousands. From our estimates each of these ships is capable of engaging a small fleet and emerging with minimal to light damage." Admiral Paris turned to the Klingon ambassador. "The Klingon's have reported nearly a dozen small skirmishes between their forces and those of the Empire. So far they have not encountered any Imperial class vessels however they have documented several smaller classes of craft that appear similar."

The Klingon ambassador stood and began his address. "Out of our eleven engagements we have won seven glorious battles," engaging the screen the Klingon ambassador brought up the image a vessel that looked similar to the Imperial class but smaller, "From our interrogations of captured Imperial troops we have learned that this class of vessel is designated as a Victory class Destroyer."

Picard looked down at his personal data pad and brought up the specs of this new ship. The Victory was only nine hundred meters compared to its larger cousin and was capable of atmospheric flight and over the next hour the ambassador detailed what the Klingon's had learned of Imperial tactics and weapons.

After the Klingon had finished his briefing the Romulan ambassador began to describe his peoples encounters with the Imperial forces. The results were quite similar with the Romulans winning most of their engagements.

"In addition we have sent a warbird to the region where the Enterprise first discovered these extra galactic intruders," the screen switch from a detailed statistics screen to reveal a large tear in the fabric of space, "these images and scans where taken roughly three hours ago."

Scanning through several images the ambassador continued. "We are guessing that the rip is what brought Captain Solo and his pursuers to our galaxy, in the last three hours nearly one hundred fifty ships have come through the rift, including these." As the next image came up the room seemed to contract as the assemblage looked in horror as a large fleet of thirty Imperial class Star Destroyers exited the rift and jumped into hyperspace.

"Due to the limitations of detecting ships travelling in hyperspace we have been unable to determine their destination."

Before the ambassador could continue Admiral Paris interrupted. "Excuse me ambassador but we have discovered the location of the Star Destroyer fleet," the admiral looked worried as he continued, "approximately twenty minutes ago the fleet entered orbit around Tellar Prime, the fleet has bombarded the planet and we are estimating the death toll to be nearly ninety five percent."

With this announcement the room erupted. Some of the occupants began to panic and question the use of resistance while others flew into a rage demanding immediate retaliation. Picard forced his way through the crowd as the admiral tried to regain control of the room. Stepping up to the podium Picard slammed his fist down and began yelling at the crowd.

"ENOUGH!" The crowd silenced almost immediately. "We are facing a threat greater then any before, greater then the Borg, greater then the Dominion even greater then our own fears."

The crowd stared in amazement as Picard's temper rose.

"If we do not stand together this foe will tear us apart as we try to defend our own interest." Picard looked at the Klingon and Romulan ambassadors. "If we don't set aside our prejudice then future generations will be born into slavery, if they are born at all."

"The time has come for our galaxy to unite, to break down the barriers between us and move forward." Picard took a short breath and continued. "The time has come to defend ourselves, the time has come for revenge...the time has come for WAR!"

The room erupted in cheers and clapping as the occupants had their fear driven from them to be replaced by a sense of power and hope. In an unprecedented move the Klingon turned and saluted the Romulan ambassador, eliciting even more cheering. Admiral Paris shook Picard's hand and resumed his address.

As Picard retook his seat those who knew him cast worried glances his way, something was terribly wrong, he was not a violent person and the speech he had just given was completely different from the man they knew.

"Now we must prepare a strategy to push the Imperial fleet back through the rift and secure it from further intrusions. Once this is done we can move onto removing the Empire from the grip on their galaxy." As the admiral continued Picard's mind strayed and he barely heard the rest of the briefing.

Riker stood in Jean-Luc's living room at his home in Paris staring out of the window thinking on the events of the past three weeks. Behind him the rest of the crew chatted amongst themselves as they waited for their captain to return with news. A hum from the small private transporter room next to the entrance caught everyone's attention.

Riker moved into the hall and watched as Picard, Solo and the Princess materialized. Without a word Jean-Luc entered the room and sat in a chair by the fireplace which had belonged to his father. His crew stood patiently waiting for the news but it seemed that Picard was lost in thought.

"Well the council has decided to create two separate task forces," everyone turned to Han as he explained what had come out of the emergency meeting, "one will be dedicated to the defence of your galaxy while the other will focus solely on pushing the Imperials back through the rift."

"What about after the enemy has been driven back through the rift?" Worf asked.

Solo nodded and continued. "After that stage has been reached the defence force will take over keeping watch on the rift and the other will attempt to push through and take the fight to the Empire in our galaxy."

Worf smiled at the thought of the coming battles and moved into the kitchen to fetch some more blood wine. Since the Enterprise had been destroyed the crew had grown even closer and they spent so much time with each other at Picard's home he felt the need to make sure he kept the kitchen stocked with everyone's favourites.

"Because the Falcon is equipped with a hyperdrive the council has requested that Captain Solo lead a small infiltration group dedicated to tracking and marking the Imperial vessels with tags that will allow us to track their movements." Everyone jumped as Picard began to speak.

"The Romulans will be equipping the Falcon with a cloaking device and we will be adding a small launcher designed to launch the tags," Jean-Luc continued, "Han and his crew will be leaving in tomorrow evening."

"Well then, a toast," Riker raised his glass, "to old friends both here and lost and to new friends, may we all remain together in spirit as we continue into the unknown."

The sound of clinging glasses filled the room as each individual began to think on the coming events.


End file.
